How big and when toms plant please

staceydaisy

Hi All

I started growing my own moneymaker toms from seed.

How big does the plant need to be before I can put it outside in a big pot with canes.

I would say at the moment it is 3 inches high and looks like a small tree

Thank u in advance

This is my first year of growing AS IF you cant tell lol

frazzbo

I've got mine sitting outside and have done for a couple of weeks now - they're maybe about 6 inches and have even started to grow buds for the flowers already. This is only the second year I've been growing veg - more of an experiment really to see what grows and what doesn't (we're trying lots of different things)! I think you can start having them outside from May or June anyway, so now is probably a good time to put them out. The warmer weather (combined with any rain) will help them to start growing a bit faster. Just keep an eye on them to make sure they're not drying out or getting too much rain on them. Keep them in a fairly sheltered spot to begin with while they're small, but make sure it's a sunny spot too. Just pop a cane in the pot when you think it looks like it needs it - when it gets bigger it will have trouble standing upright, so you can them add the cane.

Hope that helps, and good luck with them!

staceydaisy

thanks frazzo

the big pots you can buy the massive ones is that the best and also to drill some holes in the bottom what do you reckon.

The ones in our local asda dont have holes in the bottom

frazzbo

Yeah we bought ours from B&Q last year and had to drill holes in the bottom. Definitely need to do it, otherwise the pots will just get waterlogged. Make sure you just put one plant per pot (unless it's a really massive pot) as they do need quite a lot of room to grow. Also you're supposed to pull off (pinch) the shoots growing out the sides, but I'm never quite sure which ones are the right ones to pinch and which to leave! This process apparently helps the plant concentrate on growing tomatoes rather than just leaves. I think you need to wait until they get a bit taller before you start doing that though.

staceydaisy

thanks for this frazzo as I have two plantsd and was just gonna put them in the same pot lol

icecreamdogpark

Re pinching out i`s really easy once you understand it the bit that needs pinching out is a little shoot forming between the main steam and the arm/branch that grows out directly to the sides,if it`s not growing up or to the side horizontal it needs to go, mine are about 12 inches high (gardeners delight) and i`ve just pinched some out,hope that explains it failing that google some images :j